Former referee Peter Walton has said that it was 'easy' to rule out Karim Benzema's goal for offside in the first-half of the UEFA Champions League final.
Liverpool dominated the majority of the opening 45 minutes and were level only because of some world-class saves from Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtouis. But on the stroke of half-time, Madrid thought they were ahead when Benzema followed up on a loose ball inside the Reds penalty area.
After a lengthy VAR check, referee Clement Turpin reversed the on-field decision to disallow the goal and keep the scores level. Replays showed that the ball deflected into the path of the French striker, who was between Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson. Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson was ahead of the trio.
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Due to the ball last coming off a Liverpool player, there was confusion as to why the goal was chalked off but speaking on BT Sport during the break, Walton cleared things up for any confused fans watching.
"It’s actually an easy one," Walton said. "Benzema is in an offside position - the offence is committed if the ball comes back to him. The ball deflects off Fabinho. Because of that, Benzema is offside. If Fabinho deliberately played the ball, he is onside. However, it is a deflection, so he is offside."
